In 1839, the Chinese government confiscated 20,000 chests of opium. Many citizens there were heavily addicted to the drug, and after the ban of using and selling it, people got very upset. This would be the cause of the First Opium War. A few months later, the British destroyed a Chinese blockade on the Pearl River. In 1840, Britain decided to send a fleet to the Pearl River and attack the cities around Guangzhou. They occupied the city until 1842 until they overtook Nanjing, which put an end to the war. On August 29, 1842, the Treaty of Nanjing was signed. This allowed Britain to open up ports in China for trading. China also had to pay a large amount of money to Britain and had to give them the island of Hong Kong.
